Is it Really Me You Miss

Or just your long lost youth?



As I've mentioned before, Don Henley has written the soundtrack of my life, for better and worse. Sometimes much worse...

So last night I dreamt of an old friend who I loved once, more than I knew at the time perhaps. In the dream, which did not last near long enough, she had no reason to give me the time of day, let alone forgive me, but she was as gentle and kind and funny as she always was...

Queue Don Henley's "That Old Flame"

Got a message in my mailbox
From an old friend I hardly see
All it said was you were trying
To get in touch with me

And I stared down at your number
And I felt passion and I felt fear
And I wondered what the hell you wanted
After all these years

'Cause there is danger in the embers
And you have only yourself to blame
If you get burned when you try to rekindle
That old flame

Well I know we ended badly
And I was angry for a long long time
But I've grown some and I wanted you to know that I'm doing just fine

And I'm not asking for a replay
I got no delusions, got no designs
Can I borrow just a little cup of kindness
For Auld Lang Syne

'Cause there is danger in the embers
And you have only yourself to blame
If you get burned when you try to rekindle
That old flame

Speak to me plain
Tell me the truth
Is it really me you miss
Or just your long lost youth?

Yeah there is danger in the embers
And you know nothing, nothing stays the same
Yeah you can get burned when you try to rekindle
That old flame
Yeah you can get burned when you try to rekindle
That old flame

The song doesn't quite apply, but these lyrics toward the end haunt me in my middle age:

Speak to me plain
Tell me the truth
Is it really me you miss
Or just your long lost youth?

And this I just remembered. She and I attended an Eagles concert at the Metropolitan Stadium in Bloomington, Minnesota, the summer of 1978. It rained but I brought a sheet of plastic with room for two. It was one of the best dates ever...